The present disclosure relates to re-use of integrated circuit (IC) chips and, more particularly, to an IC chip structure having an on-chip usable life depletion meter and an associated method that uses this on-chip usable life depletion meter to promote re-use of the IC chip, when desirable, and prevent re-use, when undesirable.
More particularly, oftentimes previously used integrated circuit (IC) chips (i.e., recycled IC chips) are accidently or surreptitiously incorporated into products, either initially or during printed circuit board (PCB) rework (e.g., when a faulty IC chip on a printed circuit board (PCB) within a product is removed for repair or replacement). Such used IC chips create functionality and reliability issues because there is no way of tracking whether the used IC chip has exceeded its expected usable life. This is of particular concern when the product into which the used IC chip is incorporated is a critical product (i.e., a product with a life or mission critical function, such as a medical or military function). Current schemes rely on strict access control over IC chip supply and are not always effective.